Frameworks
I capture early morning scribbles. It’s part of my process of letting new insights sink in. A few years ago, I figured out that I was “learning” the same lessons over and over again. Some of them were slippery and hard to integrate, mostly because they were so different from my practiced ways of being. I began to write them down, and decided to keep them in view. These are frameworks for being in the world as ourselves, for growing and changing, and for navigating new pathways around work, life, and money.
The basis of this work is embodiment.
Solving “Problems”
Hold your goal in gentle contemplation. You might be tempted to hammer out a solution while simmering in frustration. Try this instead: drop your shoulders and relax the muscles in your face. Open your palms.
Now, think of something else that needs to get done, and give yourself permission to go work on that other thing for a while. Often, solutions and ideas begin to percolate when you’re not staring at the problem directly.
What does it mean to “stay in your body?” Simply remember that you have a body. Where are you holding tension? Where do you feel neutral or relaxed? Where are you bracing against the experience of not having or not knowing? How are you holding your body right now? Are you grimacing? Gripping? Bracing? Clenching? Notice what’s happening.
Now…relax the muscles in your face (again). Drop your shoulders (again). Open your palms (again). What happens now? How do you feel? Do emotions come up? Do sensations change or move or intensify? Be with the body.
Solutions are harder to notice when we’re “freaking out,” or activated, or not in our bodies. Give yourself some grounding. Practice relaxing the body intentionally.